Playworks New England hosts corporate kickball fundraiser at Boston College High School

Corporate kickball doubled as a fundraiser at Boston College High School, where Playworks New England staged its 2026 tournament as both a bracketed competition and a drive for school-based play programs. Registration opened at 11:30 a.m. on June 18, and the games ran from noon to 5 p.m. at the Dorchester campus, giving company teams a full afternoon to chase bragging rights while backing a larger cause.

The setup was built for more than just one-off office fun. Playworks said the day included lunch, refreshing beverages and a silent auction, and described corporate kickball as an inclusive, collaborative employee-engagement event. Title sponsors were promised recognition on the organization’s website, annual report, newsletter and other materials, while Stacy Wilbur, Playworks New England’s director of development, was listed as the contact for participation.

The money went to a mission Playworks has been building since 1996, when the organization was founded before expanding to New England in 2006. The group says it works with low-income schools in Boston, Lawrence, Salem and Somerville through year-round on-site support, and its latest impact report says it partnered with more than 200 schools and community organizations to bring safe and inclusive play to more than 67,000 kids across the region. Another Playworks page says the organization reaches about 65,500 students in 120 elementary schools across Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire.

Playworks ties that work to measurable outcomes, using annual staff surveys that ask teachers and school personnel about student behavior throughout the day and school climate. That evidence-based approach is the backbone of the fundraiser’s pitch: the kickball field is one way to underwrite recess support, structured play and healthier school environments for children who need them most.

Boston College High School, at 150 Morrissey Blvd. in Dorchester, has become the tournament’s familiar home. Playworks said twelve teams gathered there for the corporate kickball event in 2023, and its 2025 page put the fundraiser back at the same venue with the same noon-to-5 schedule. The repeated setting suggests a durable summer fixture, not a novelty.

Max Fripp, Playworks New England’s executive director, has helped steer that growth. Playworks says he previously led the region’s Metro Boston operation from July 2008 to December 2015, growing school partnerships from 13 to 40 and securing $1.2 million in philanthropic funding. For Playworks, the tournament turned a familiar adult game into a direct pipeline for youth play, with the scoreboard serving a mission that reaches far beyond one afternoon in Boston.